One year wait for full kerbside recycling - if site is finished

WEST Dorset will have to wait until summer 2015 for full kerbside recycling – and then only if the Broomhills waste site is furnished.

That was the news from Steve Burdis, director of the Dorset Waste Partnership when he gave a presentation about the Recycle for Dorset project to Bridport town councillors last week.

The service to 41,000 properties in Purbeck and Dorchester started this week but 18,000 to 20,000 properties in Bridport and Lyme Regis will have to wait for more than a year.

Weymouth and Sherborne residents should get the new service in October this year.

The Recycle Dorset scheme started in 2011 and covers seven Dorset councils.

It replaces 12 different collection services in six authorities.

Mr Burdis said the service had made £1.4million in savings in its first year and was on target to make £2million by 2015.

The bins occupy a 6ft by 3ft footprint.

He said: “There will be a new weekly food waste collection, fortnightly recycling – far better than we have now – a fortnightly rubbish and an optional fortnightly charged garden waste service.”

The wheelie bins for rubbish have a 240 litre capacity and for recycling, which will include plastic for the first time, a 140 litre capacity. The cooked and uncooked food waste can be put in a lockable bin and there is a smaller kitchen caddy.

“It is a fantastic plant – one of the best in the country every bit of material goes on local farmland to grow crops and literally on the other side of the road the electricity and heat from the plant is going into Mole Valley farmers’ local co-op for production of animal feed.”

The garden waste service costs £40 a year for 25 collections.

Mr Burdis said: “There are 28,000 people signed up who are very happy with it and it has proved extremely popular.

“Everybody who uses it thinks it is absolutely fantastic.”

For large families there is the possibility for more capacity but unless there is a genuine lack of space for the wheelie bins their use will be mandatory – no waste will be picked up any other way, said Mr Burdis.

He added: “Where there is genuinely no space for wheeled bins we would issue sacks and boxes.”

Those properties will be inspected before the non standard service is agreed and home owners will need to apply either on line or by phone.

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